istock

Monday, December 21, 2009

I just got back from a 3 city tour and will be off again to Bangkok tomorrow. It has been an very interesting trip where we viewed several potential sites for business and property collaboration. It is amazing how much China has accomplished in the last 20 years of development. The connectivity that they have achieved took many other countries 2 or even 3 times the amount of time they took.

I worry for Singapore’s ability to stay ahead of the economic development game as Singapore is still playing a middleman’s role of sorts and when the Chinese really understand how Western economies function, our role can easily be replaced. Staying relevant will be a key for our next generation. But alas, I see how many parents are pampering their kids during my recent trip to Hokkaido and Tokyo where there were more Singaporeans than Japanese.(Yes, you read right).

I worry about their ability to tough it out. I really worry when kids are boasting that their parents are putting them on business class and even comparing where their parents took them on vacations during school holidays. Maybe I am old school but I did not take my first commercial plane until I graduated from university. These ‘soft kids’ will be steam rolled by the hungry talent from developing countries.Anyway, property prices in China are on a roll and I do not see any relief as there is massive migration resulting in greater urbanization. Prices briefly softened for a while but they are back on a roll and many Chinese citizens are complaining that they cannot afford decent housing. I am evaluating a couple of projects and will keep you updated.

I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance on behalf of all my colleagues and myself at ERC.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hi guys! Many apologies for not sharing with you my first building acquisition before Straits Times reported it. In fact, I don’t believe I just spent $46 million buying my first place. Many thanks for the congratulatory messages that I had been receiving. I am going to build the place into an education and recreation place that all of you will be proud of. I really need to count my blessings and thank God for the opportunities that I have been given. I have been reflecting, just 10 years ago, home was still a 3 room HDB flat. I hope to give back the many blessings that I had received in the future.

It has been very hard going for me in the last month or so. I simply have been overwhelmed, I need to thank the property course students for your many compliments. I am glad that many of your issues regards investing in property have been resolved and you are on your way to making money in the property market. Spaces in the next intake have been fully taken up so for those of you who are keen, pls do book your seats early.

I am taking my break earlier this year and will be off to Hokkaido and Tokyo with my good friends. I’m sure most of you already know this since my good friends Douglas and family, shared with the whole of Singapore via Straits Times where we are going. Once back, I will attending the ERC Group’s very first Dinner and Dance. All our staff are looking forward to it and planning what they are wearing.

Oh, before I forget, this year’s Asian Titan trends will be held at Suntec City on the 30th of Jan. Do book your free seat early (for students) as capacity is limited.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I just bought my biggest investment to date, a building that I absolutely love. It has been a long drawn process, it took me 15 months to search and 3 months to negotiate. Yes, it takes me that long to find a deal. I am relieved and at the same time a bit jolted after I have done the deal. I am glad that some of the brightest investment minds in Singapore, my personal friends of course, are all scrambling to co-invest in this long term deal. I will share the details of the place next week.

The long term potential is great and after I implement my concept, the yield will be very significantly enhanced. I know that in my last blog, I warned about the residential markets. Of course, I will not be contradicting myself as the above property is not a residential play. After my last blog, I have been proven right as things have slowed down in the last month.

I really want to update this more often but I have been absolutely swamped! I have not even been able to eat as I had been in the process of re-structuring my organisation and was overseas so often that it would be more convenient for me to camp at the airport. So many apologies to my avid readers!

My property course has finally been launched and I must thank you for your overwhelming support. All the spaces has been taken in the space of a day. We will launch a second intake this year for those of you who were not able to get a space. I know my small class size is a bummer but we really want to add value. So grab a space before they run out again.

And by the way, please be very careful of people selling properties via attending seminars, I am really not comfortable as crap is being hawked like nobody’s business. Caveat emptor! I am only sounding this out as they are like a master agent who has nothing to lose even if you lose money. I am only sounding this as most of you are my students and your interest come first. I have nothing against anybody but please be careful what you are getting into, please!

I was really heartened when one of my students came up to me the other day thanking me. According to him, he has attended a lot of the seminars out there and in his own words, ‘ we have the liao(substance)’. Incidents like this are what drive us and creating value for you is key to us.

Monday, October 12, 2009

All the exuberance is there. The property soap opera saga in Singapore is rather interesting. However, I am simply not comfortable with the whole residential property situation. The developers are trying to offload as much as possible. Nearly all the property companies’ charts are pointing to a ‘head and shoulders’ trend with a downside bias. We seem to be in a world of our own when it comes to the economic situation.

The US and Europe is still suffering, their consumption demand simply dwarfs what Asian consumers are buying. Everyone expects China to take the lead, but there is so much that they can do. The immense liquidity pumped in to stabilize world economies is like a life sustaining machine. Someone better figure out a good way to keep the patient alive after taking him off. All this points to one conclusion, know what you are investing in. If you are caught in a liquidity trap, where you are over-invested and cost of funds move up, this can be deadly. I am sounding unusually pessimistic but there is always light at the end of the rainbow.

So far all my indicators have worked rather well but I am indeed caught in a huge situation trying to ascertain where to place my money for year 2010. Anyway, I will update everyone at our annual ‘Asian Titan Trends’ event beginning next year. For those of you who are not familiar, this is the event where I share with everyone my investment strategies for the New year. This free event only for past participants has always attracted a full house. I have limited capacity to 200 hundred this year and invitation will go out next month, so book your seats early. Till then, all the best for your financial ventures.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I am so exhausted but the class was fun and my classmates were also asking me what I am buying now. Well, here’s what I make of the market. The newspapers are making big huge headlines of high profile launches. Some of the heartland properties have hit $1200 psf. If they are in great heart lands areas like AMK and Toa Payoh , there is pent up demand and rental yields will be fantastic given they are beside MRT stations. However, there is some concern at the high end segment. Some of the Holland Hill and Bt Timah launches priced in the $1500 plus region have not moved as expected.

This fact will place a limit on how high the mass markets homes can go up to. Think of it this way, if you can buy a freehold Bt Timah place for a couple of hundred psf more, you will definitely prefer that to a 99 tenure heartlands place right? It all boils down to simple logic. One of the key factors limiting the climb of higher end residential homes is the lack of demand for such unit from a rental basis. The investment banks are not hiring that aggressively and you can be sure that their housing allowances will be not as generous as before.

The wild card will be the 2 IRs, if they are phenomenally successful, there might be added demand by international investors. But the hot money are all looking at the US right now, where property prices have collapsed, I am not kidding! I am not saying that there is an impending collapse, but I suspect things will start to cool in a couple of months time.

I need your feedback; some of you want me to conduct a pure property training program. For those of you, who will appreciate a comprehensive course on investing in property, please let me know if I should organize such sessions where I will teach the basics and all the possible loopholes. Send your comments to my blogmail and till my next entry, have a profitable time!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Hi guys, many many apologies! I have been so busy to write new entries but that is no excuse. I just got back from Indonesia where we had a very exciting trip. We will be adding a new centre there by mid next year. Our partners are very excited by what we have built in Singapore and they are very keen to replicate.

At my last Asian Titan Trends when I shared with you what I am buying, I am happy to report that ALL my trends were dead on and you would have made over 150% over the course of a year. I shared with you, I was bullish on landed properties, the education sector, the tourism sector amongst others. I am very happy that my timing was also spot on, and my prediction of a V shaped recovery happened as I had shared right down to the month.

If you had bought a landed property in the Bukit Timah area, you would have paid $800 plus psf at that point in time. Your initial equity(down payment) would have been about $160 psf. Now prices have gone crazy and some are even advertising for $2000 psf. A more realistic pricing would be $1200, that means you would have made $400 psf, a return of over 150% plus the rental you have collected. Congratulations to the 200 attendants who bothered to come for that FREE event. Your return on investment would have been infinite. When you are on the way laughing to the bank, please remember to buy me a nice treat.

There are a lot of you who have been asking me what I have been up to. Well, I have been quite active in the property market. I bought a couple of the high profile properties, and for the 2 of you who attended my last program and hopped on board, congratulations.

All that is history, what you should be concerned with is what is happening now and even the experts are confused. I received calls from a couple of the top property experts and they are puzzled with what is happening. I need to go for my MBA class now and I will share what I think later in the evening with you.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I just finished my Global Strategy module of my MBA class. It has been an interesting but tired experience. My classmates are quite nice and being able to interact and learn has been a refreshing change. I have actually applied the taught knowledge into practice. I am a person who likes action and not bullshit. I am a person who advocates not just talk but action. So my class mates, including long time friend Douglas Foo, are quite enthused by the practical perspectives. The intellectual sparring has been quite interesting.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Apologies for not writing the last month or so, it has been a very hectic period. I just stepped off the plane from Chin and it has been not too pleasant a trip. The property markets has been going crazy for the last 2 months and every person ‘in the know’ including the top analysts are quite baffled. Well, what I shared with you who attended my CEO Forum last October would have benefited as my prediction of a V shape recovery came true. Congratulations to those of you who acted and made money.

It will not be so easy now as the initial enthusiasm will wear off and the exuberance will continue for a while more but I expect prices to stabilize soon. The top end of the market is started to move but with so much supply coming on line and rental yields not catching up, it will be a tough sell. However, over the long term, I am still very bullish on Singapore property. Why?

Think about it, the recent Jakarta bombings, the crime wave in Malaysia, the political instability in Thailand, the typhoons in Taiwan/Hong Kong, earthquakes in China etc etc etc. Singaporeans do not appreciate what we have. A safe, natural disaster free country where we can raise our kids. Our high English competency is an added attraction. More foreigners will be buying here. I can assure you the Indonesians are certainly more attracted to Singapore after the bombings. Big names like Jet Li, Gong Li and Jim Rogers have all migrated here. If you need more convincing, just go to Takashimaya and on some days, you can hardly understand the languages being spoken.

With that said, my money will not be in residential property as I favor the commercial sector simply because prices are still relatively reasonable. I will share more in my next posting.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Hi folks! I am just back from Korea, it was still quite cold over there but it was a good trip. Things are a little gloomy there as the Korean economy was hard hit by the financial crisis. For those of you who like anything Korean, it is a good time to visit now as the Won is still very low.

I found Korea to be a nice place as living and food prices are very reasonable. A bottle of shoju retailing for $25 to $30 costs just $1 at the supermarket and $3 at restaurants. So do keep Seoul on your holiday map. I think the Korean tourism authorities should pay me for this promotion.

So what is becoming of the economy? The financial markets are signalling healthier economies and mass market properties are moving off the shelves at record pace. It is my opinion that the systemic risks of the economy has been eliminated now in that at least we know that banks will still be around. Thus we should be looking forward to not bustling markets but it is not so gloomy now.

The best indicator that I have observed in the past years is the prices of top end golf clubs. Prices of club memberships in Sentosa Golf Club and Singapore Island Country Club have been good barometers of the economy in the past. In fact, they correspond quite closely and gives a good 3 month indicator of the forward economy. The reason?

These memberships are high end items and signal the holding power of high net worth individuals. Recently, we have seen prices holding steady at the end of last year after falling by a good 40 to 50%. So perhaps, we can look forward to a more decent showing in the economy.

In line with this, I will be doing a property forum to update you guys on strategies to tap the property markets now. I’m afraid that there is a maximum number that we can take in as the biggest room we have now is about 60 persons. So if you are keen pls RSVP asap once the invite is sent out. I look forward to meeting you then.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Apologies, Ladies and Gentlemen! I had been down with the flu for the last couple of weeks but unfortunately, I could not rest as work commitments demands that I keep up with my traveling schedule. But fortunately, I am quite sure, I am not down with the Mexican Flu.

Since my last update, I was in the Philippines and I just came back from Myanmar last night, and I am absolutely exhausted. It is my first time to both countries and the opportunities there are amazing. The people are lovely but their governments can’t seem to get their act together. Sad but true. However, it is such nations that present opportunities.

As you can recall, at last October’s CEO Forum, I shared with all of you that I expected the economy to recover by 3rd quarter of this year. This is in light of the accumulated Asian personal strong balance sheets and concerted government efforts. There were many skeptics who doubt if the global financial crisis can be untangles within so short a span of time. I also shared with you that the best indicator are the financial markets, and boy has the markets recovered!

The last couple of weeks have surprised me as the markets have proved to be very buoyant. These events have even accelerated my already optimistic observations. So what can you do right now? Ironically, there are still some doubts as to whether the recovery is sustainable so you might want to look for assets on the cheap now.

Some have started to emerge but I am afraid that not many of these will emerge. There are some values for money properties being auctioned off right now. Look at al the property firms’ websites, where there are details. I am also looking for assets and will look to acquire very high yielding properties by the end of this year.

I hope to get my next entry out soon. Till then, please do take good care of yourself.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Sorry for the long break. My friends and I took a last minute decision to be in Melbourne. It was a much needed short break and what started out as a short trip turned out to be a 7-hour journey to Melbourne. The ticket price was irresistible, Emirates (a very good airline) was offering tickets at $403 all in! We had a ball of a time and celebrated my friend’s wife’s birthday there. The vineyards, the food, the chilling out were all very good. It helped that my friend studied there and knew all the nice places to go to.

We work so hard, we also need to take time out for ourselves. The passing of DBS’ CEO had a big impact on me. He was at the prime of his life and his fall to illness was a bit of a shocker. You never know when God is going to recall you, so it is important that you live each day like it was your last.

I just received this nice email from PK Tan and his wife Judy Chen.

“We count ourselves as very fortunate to be members of your Wealth Creation Alumni. I believe all of us have benefitted greatly from your generous advice (especially through your latest updates on recently launched personal blog) on how we can gain financial freedom esp in this great recession and maybe even depression for some of us. Keep up with your great work, Andy! (Good to know that you are finding time to watch some movies.)” -PK and Judy

PK had a few questions that I believe that all of you will be asking, so for my next entry, I will share my thoughts with him. Till then, take care!

Monday, April 6, 2009

So at last, property prices have just started to correct. Quite a few of you have started to ask me, when to buy, when to buy. My opinion is the cracks have just started to appear, and prices will continue to be on the downturn until at least middle of the year.

You need to be very, very cautious when it comes to large ticket investments like buying a property. Such an investment can break you if you are at the wrong end of the cycle. To be sure, you need to go back to basics, YIELD is the name of the game.

I have reiterated in class time and again. To be rich and I mean really rich, you do not have to be a genius and do too much work.

You need to just play your cards right and DO NOT take too much risks. For those of you who took my advice and liquidated out of your residential properties, good on you. Do not go into the market now! There is more pain to come, you know it, so stick to your belief.

Your objective is to get really rich so that any recession do not bother you too much. Lamborghini’s new launch was a sold out event! They collected 20 plus orders for a car costing over $1.5 million. What does this show? There are people with money on upturns and downturns, and it is really your choice which side you want to be in.

On the personal side, I had a very nice weekend, just chilling and caught 2 movies, which is a rarity for me. Of the 2 movies, Shinjuku Incident and Detroit Metal City, I prefer the latter. This is a laugh a minute Japanese flick. I know the title is not very eye catching but I am confident that you will like this one. Life is sad enough, so I prefer comedies to take away the fatigue in my first weekend in Singapore for the last 2 months.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

It has been a very tiring 10 days! The 3 city tour really took a lot out of me. The biggest takeaway I have out of this trip is how amazed I am at Singaporeans not taking advantage of the brand equity we have as Singaporeans.What do I mean?

We are proud to be Singaporeans and rightly so. Singapore has progressed very well over the last 40 plus years to become a regional economic powerhouse. We certainly punch above our weight in terms of economic prowess. However, Singaporeans have not taken advantage of this and to a lot of Chinese, we might be even be deemed as arrogant. From my observation, there are Chinese and there are Chinese. The majority of Chinese are still in poverty stricken areas. The earlier cities to develop are actually quite wealthy now. They have seen the world and they know how to go with the tide.

I met quite a few very enterprising Chinese this trip. Their business might have been affected by the financial crisis but they are not resigned to their fate. One real estate developer I met is turning this crisis into opportunities. I really salute him for his resilience and commitment to his beliefs.

Many impacted businessmen are exploring other business opportunities and have plans to counter such downturns by diversifying their risks. China is a sleeping dragon that is just about to awake. Many Singaporeans cannot imagine the wealth of rich Chinese. The question is not whether they will emerge as the biggest economy in the world, but rather when. So ride the wave. Remember, the trend is your friend, so not go against your friend.

Monday, March 23, 2009

If I have been too prolific in my writing, I do beg your forgiveness. I hope I have not bored you in anyway. I will be taking a long trip so you can be rid of me for the next few days.

I am off to a 3 city tour of China, going to Wuhan, Shanghai and Guangzhou starting tomorrow , so I will be taking a breather. I will share my experiences with you regards this trip in the next blog. It is another of those tiring trips, but I am looking forward to inspecting our representative office in Shanghai, which will be functioning soon as it is undergoing renovation now. So now, we are in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Australia and there are talks to open Indonesia now. It is quite fun to do this actually.

Quite a few of you have asked me how you can participate in any of my real estate ventures. If there are enough requests, then I will conscientiously explore. So please do give me your feedback.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Quite a few of you asked me to do this quickly as they are about to enter the market. Beware!!!!! To me this is a Fool’s Rally (aka Bear Rally), I know that I shared with you that I see a V-shape recovery starting from late 2009. I know I also said that financial markets recover before the actual economy does. But I am of the opinion that the economy has not digested the excesses of the last ten years.

With that in mind, I think the market has some way to go, down that is! A lot of people do not understand that there has been a fundamental shift of the Americans about consumerism that is they stopped spending. They still account for the lion’s share of worldwide consumption, which is the principal driver of the world’s economies. Thus until they get some level of confidence back, its going to be tough.

The Singapore economy has certainly been affected, but the situation will be worse. I I know that there will be lots of retrenchments in the coming quarter (through the grapevine), things are certainly not looking good.

But why has the stock markets been doing well? Well, the markets is like a spring, you press it hard enough, there will be some form of recoil. This is what we are experiencing. For me the rewards of band trading do not compensate me enough to take such risks. This is my personal opinion of course, so do make your own opinion at the end of the day.

I always like compliments, who does not? Raymond C was very, very nice in writing the below testimonial for me and I must thank him. It is for people like Raymond who drives me in my job!

Here’s what he said.

“I attended one of Andy’s Wealth Creation Course sometime in Jan 2008, took his advice to remain liquid and prepare for a possible turn in the economy in the near future. So, I executed a plan I had been toying (ok..actually procrastinating) with for quite a while. I liquidated one of my apartments at a very good price there and then, and am now riding the downturn, biding my time for the right “ Opportunity ”. Thanks to Andy…for his invaluable advice and passion to share…and also to the impeccable timing of it all. I need to also add that Andy’s sharing did not stop after the course has ended..he is now reaching out to the Wealth Creation Alumni through his Blog! Way to go Andy! Cheers!”

Hi guys! I just back from Vietnam early this week and I am sooooo tired! Vietnam took a lot out of me with the climate changes. It was 10 degrees Celsius in Danang on Saturday and 32 degrees Celsius the next day! Nevertheless, it has been a very hectic week. I concluded a deal to open our Hanoi school and managed to get the design concept out this trip.

I just sold my penthouse in East Coast and the funny thing is I have no where to stay as all my other places are leased out. I just leased a unit at The Sail, facing Marina Bay. So for those of you, who want to watch Formula One for free, be nice to me.

I have an entrepreneurship class tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. Many of you must be surprised that I look forward to doing my class, they may be tiring but they also give me inspiration. I look forward to starting my MBA class next month as well.

One of the key reasons why I’m so shag as well is that I was orchestrating our advertising campaign for our education arm that debut recently. I decided to take a leadership role after all the nonsense news articles regards private schools. Do let me know what you think of our ads.

For my next blog, hopefully I want to get it out soon; I would like to share with you what I think of the recent market rally as many of you will be curious. Economies are so depressed but why are stock markets doing so well in the last week or so. Till then, take care!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Hi All! Greetings from Vietnam and things are certainly looking bright here. We will be doing a lot more projects here in the future.

It has been my life long dream to go back to school, well I am doing exactly that. I just enrolled at our education arm’s MBA program specialising in International Business. My class will start in mid April. I am still figuring out how to juggle my time but what the heck, enough procrastination. If there’s a will there’s a way.

I managed to cajole my long time friend, Douglas Foo, CEO of Apex-Pal, the holding company of Sakae Sushi into signing up for the same program too. It will be quite fun as both of us have not been studying for the last 12 years. I certainly hope to advance and sharpen my skills to advance the companies I am have been building. Now is perhaps the best time as things are expected to be a little slower.

We are looking for up and coming passionate people to be our classmates, so if you are keen do consider enrolling and we can learn from each other. Details are at www.erci.edu.sg.

I hope to learn from the lecturers that I am personally selecting to equip me with the skills to bring us to the next level! So join us if you have been thinking of doing an MBA for some time.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

This is the million dollar question! I have coached you to accumulate cash since the beginning last year and if you waste your bullets now, I will strangle you personally!

Some of you will become multi-millionaires in the next few years should you play your cards right. If not, well, you have to wait for the next down cycle.

Over the next 12 months, I assure you more opportunities will emerge. Do not be easily tempted away! And if you feel you have stumbled on the deal of the century, email me first. Everyone and their sons will ask you to part with your cash, what approach should you be adopting.

Anyway, the name of the game is now risk management. Manage your risk and your upside will come. In downtimes, focus on cash flow and yield. Forget investment instruments that locks up your cash without yield. Yields are what will enable you to last through the down cycle. Yields will supplement your income and multiple streams of income are the cornerstone of wealth creation.I am taking it easy right now, I am sent out feelers that I am looking for bargains. And I am prepared to be patient. Do not expect bargains to emerge soon as many investors have holding power as their personal balance sheets are now stronger compared to the last recession but again, there will be those who cannot hold out. So the key thing is : “ Be Prepared!”.

Doing nothing and maybe shorting the market occasionally is the way to go. There is no blood on the streets yet so hold your horses!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Hi all! This is my very first entry. I know I promised to do this for a very long time but it has been very, very hectic for me. I just came back from several countries and in fact, I will be leaving for a 3 city tour in a couple of days starting from Ho Chi Minh City.

I was inspired to make this entry as there were a lot of enquiries on what to do right now to take advantage of the current crisis. I am writing to allay your fears. Now first and foremost, ground rules, I really do not have time to proof read what I write so please pardon the occasional grammatical mistake. It is unforgiveable as a former journalist, but what I want to do is convey ideas rather then anything else.

Now you will recall that at the last CEO Forum, I revealed my 5 money making trends for 2009. For those of you who followed, I’m sure you are laughing all the way to the bank now.

Shorting the market for the first couple of months as advised obviously made money even though I was breaking out in cold sweat when the market rallied for the first couple of days in January. The education sector is booming as this recession proof business has created numerous opportunities. Tourism opportunities are abound as this sector continues to hire the most people. As for the real estate sector, the strategy of fishing for bargains very, very selectively has paid off as what was cheap has become cheaper.

Well that is life, you have selected to take charge of your career and financial life and if you had heeded our advice, you would be in a very comfortable position now to take advantage of the opportunities that are coming. The cash position that I have asked you to accumulate means you are king right now. Do not squander your advantageous position away easily.

The recent spate of new property launches have been quite successful but the time to buy is still not now, you can expect more bad news. Do not despair! Today Newspaper recently interviewed me and I was quoted, “When there is blood on the streets, that is where the buying begins.” That quote actually came from Mark Mobius, Templeton Asset Management’s MD. The reporter chose to attribute it to me and it certainly drew some criticism saying I was heartless. However, I stand by my investment philosophy, you buy low and sell high. When there is fear, that is where you can get bargains.

I will share my views on what is happening economically in the world next time, if I get some time off in the plane.

Hi Guys! I am writing to you from the air again. This time I am on the way back from the Land of the Rising Sun. I cannot feel but a little ...

Our Facebook

Pageviews

Andy OngFounder of ERC Holdings

Andy Ong Siew Kwee currently serves as the Founder of ERC Holdings. Under his leadership, the parent group has since established strong foothold in four business silos namely education ERC Institute , hospitality, training and property investment within two decades.

Ong is a strong believer in enabling startups and young brands reach their potential. Together with a group of partners, he founded the Entrepreneur’s Resource Centre (ERC) to help budding entrepreneurs transform their business ideas into sustainable models.

The recent venture into a co-working space; BIGWork , an ideation incubator lab; BIGFund and an immersive startup fitness concept; BIGFitness is a testament to Ong’s vision of staying at the forefront of innovation.

In the fashion of undying entrepreneurial spirit, Ong also pursued opportunities out of the education and training space. The BIGHotel was set up in 2013, and was later sold in a multi-million dollar deal.

To date, Ong has built a strong portfolio in a wide range of industries; he is the owner of several businesses in education, training, print media and property investments with a combined annual turnover of $200 million.

A multi-faceted talent, Ong is an author and a seasoned property investor too.

Ong has been featured on major media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg and The Straits Times.